Using Multiple Cameras

As of Unreal Engine 4.24, you can no longer access the Matinee Editor from the Cinematics Menu and Details Panel. This is part of the transition to remove Matinee from UE4 completely in 4.25. You can still convert Matinee actors to Sequencer assets using the Matinee to Sequencer Conversion Tool.

In the following steps, we are going to create a short sequence that uses multiple camera angles.

Adding the Matinee, Camera and Props

In this step, we will add our Matinee Actor, our Cameras and a prop that will be our subject for the shots.

1. From the Toolbar menu, select Matinee and click the Add Matinee button.

   

2. If the Matinee undo warning message appears, click the Continue button.

   

3. The Matinee Editor window will open.

   Click for Full View.

4. Minimize the Matinee window, then from the Modes menu under the Basic tab, Drag-and-drop a Camera into the viewport.

   

   Try to place the Camera somewhere to the left of the template text as seen in the image above.

5. Place two more Cameras in the viewport and rotate them inward to face the box as seen in the image below.

   

   You can rotate a Camera by selecting it and pressing the E key, then using the widget to orientate it.

6. From the Content Browser under the Game/Props folder, locate the SM_Chair and Drag-and-drop it into the viewport, onto the box.

   

7. With the chair still selected, press E to enter Rotation Mode and rotate the chair around to 140.00 as seen below.

   

Creating the Camera Sequences in Matinee

In this step, we will assign movement to each Camera and hook them up to our Matinee.

1. Open the Matinee window (if you have closed it you can re-open it by selecting the Matinee, then from the Details panel, selecting Open Matinee.).

   

2. With the first Camera that was placed in the viewport selected, Right-Click in the Tracks window and select Add New Camera Group from the menu.

   

3. In the Name Camera Group box that appears, name the camera Camera1 and press enter to complete adding the track.

   

4. Repeat the process above and add the remaining two cameras to the Matinee.

   

5. Next, we will increase the length of the Matinee by holding Control and dragging the red marker (in the yellow box below) to the 15.00 mark (yellow X).

6. Click on the first keyframe at 0.00 on the Movement track of Camera1 the camera should be selected in the viewport.

   

7. In the Viewport, using the widget, move the camera up and angle it downward slightly (press E to enter Rotation mode).

   

   We are going to pan the camera to the right across the template text, so try to angle the camera so that it will view the text.

8. Return to the Matinee window and move the Time Bar to the 5.00 mark for the Movement track of Camera1 and press Enter to add a new keyframe.

   

9. With the second keyframe still selected, return to the editor viewport and grab the Green arrow of the Translation widget and move the camera to the right past the text.

   You should see a yellow dotted line which indicates the movement the camera will take.

10. Return to the Matinee window and click on the first keyframe of the Movement track for Camera2, then Control+Drag the keyframe to the 5.00 mark.

    

11. With Camera2's keyframe still selected, return to the editor viewport and move the camera towards the box (the chair is on) so that its view is filled by the box.

    

12. Return to the Matinee window and move the Time Bar to the 7.50 mark for the Movement track of Camera2 and press Enter to add a new keyframe.

    

13. With the new keyframe still selected, return to the editor viewport and grab the Blue arrow of the Translation widget, then move the camera upwards to view the chair.

    

14. Return to the Matinee window and move the keyframe at 0.00 for the Movement track of Camera3 to the 7.50 mark.

    

15. With Camera3's keyframe still selected, return to the editor viewport and move the camera up and slightly hovering over the chair.

    

16. Return to the Matinee window and move the Time Bar to the 11.00 mark and press Enter to add a new keyframe.

    

17. With the new keyframe still selected, return to the editor viewport and move the camera back using the widget to show the chair.

    

18. Return to the Matinee window and select the Movement track of Camera1 then move the Time Bar to 11.00 and press Enter to add a new keyframe.

19. With the new keyframe still selected, return to the editor viewport and click the Viewport Options button, then select Lock Viewport to Actor and choose Selected Actor (your Camera).

    

20. Your view should look something like below with a Lock Icon located in the upper left corner of the screen.

    

    The viewport is now locked to our camera, which is useful for getting more precise angles as well as an idea of what the shot will look like.

21. Using W, A, S, D, fly the camera into a position where it is elevated and looking down on the chair.

    

22. Then return to the Viewport Options window and Unlock the camera in the same manner it was locked above.

    

23. Return to the Matinee window and move the Time Bar to 15.00 and add a keyframe on the Movement track of Camera1.

24. With the new keyframe still selected, return to the editor viewport and (using the Translation widget or by Locking the Viewport), move the camera into position as shown below.

    

Creating the Camera Cuts with a Director Track

In this step, we will add a Director Track which will handle all of our camera cuts.

1. Open the Matinee window (if you have closed it you can re-open it by selecting the Matinee, then from the Details panel, selecting Open Matinee.).

   

2. Under Camera3, Right-Click in an empty space in the Tracks window and from the context menu select Add New Director Group.

   

3. Move the Time Bar back to 0.00 (if it is not already there) and click on the Director track then press Enter to add a keyframe.

4. The Cut To Group pop-up window will appear, go ahead and press Ok for Camera1 to finish adding the keyframe.

   

   A bar will be added for Camera1 indicating that it will be used for the 15 second sequence, which we will change to include the other cameras.

5. Move the Time Bar to 5.00, 7.50 and 11.00 and add a keyframe at each, cutting to Camera2, Camera3, and back to Camera1 respectively (see below).

   Click image for full view.

6. Close the Matinee window, then select the Matinee in the World Outliner and in the Details panel, check the following options: Play on Level Load, Looping, Disable Movement Input, Disable Look at Input, and Hide Player.

   

7. From the main toolbar, click Build (optional to build the lighting in the level) then click the Play button.

   

8. You should now have a Matinee sequence that starts when the level loads and cycles through three different cameras.